Cheesy Lasagna Roll Ups

Nearly everything my Gram cooked was homestyle and from scratch.  I know that a big part of that was growing up in a time where convenience foods weren’t readily available, but I also think she just enjoyed making her family something special.

I’ve tried a lot of twists on lasagna over the years, but one thing I’ve never tried before is a lasagna roll-up. This is a twist on the classic lasagna recipe where you spread the fillings on top of each noodle and roll it up, then load all those rolls side by side into the pan and bake ‘em.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to get around to trying this, because cooking lasagna this way has a lot of perks. For one, it distributes the filling evenly, so you always get the perfect balance of noodles and filling in every serving. And speaking of serving, lasagna roll-ups are a lot neater and easier to serve: just dish out a roll to each person.

My Mom did a lot of from-scratch cooking, too, but she also used a few shortcuts and cooking hacks on occasion.  They let her speed the cooking process up on busy nights, without sacrificing the taste or flavor of the food.

One of those hacks was for pasta sauce.  While she made a killer homemade spaghetti sauce, sometimes dinner needed to be on the table fast so that we could get to a game or concert.  There was always a jar in the cupboard “just in case”.

What You'll Need

• 1 (28-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce, divided
• 1 (2-pound) container ricotta cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 to 14 lasagna noodles, prepared according to package directions

What to Do

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour half the spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a 9- x 13-inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, the Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, and salt until well blended.
3. Spoon cheese mixture over lasagna noodles, distributing evenly, and roll up tightly. Place rollups seam-side down in prepared baking dish; top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until heated through.

Notes

• For lighter lasagna roll ups, substitute reduced-fat ricotta cheese, part-skim mozzarella cheese, and reduced-fat spaghetti sauce. And feel free to use whole wheat lasagna noodles instead.
• We don't know about you, but we love to start most any Italian meal with a crisp and cool Caesar salad!
• Looking for another interesting lasagna recipe? Give our Pierogi Lasagna a try! Plus, we think you're gonna love our Beefy Rollups too!

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